


Deadeye

by YoghurtFox



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Assassin AU, Light Angst, M/M, Rating May Change, Slow Burn, but its basically the same as in canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:40:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21978976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YoghurtFox/pseuds/YoghurtFox
Summary: Before being adpoted by Lord Lonato, Ashe was an assassin who never missed a shot...except one. Now that he's at the Officers Academy, all he wants is to be able to put his criminal life beind him, but this becomes harder than expected when he finds out that his house leader is the prince he failed to assasinate all those years ago. Can he prove to the prince's suspicious vassal, Dedue, that he's no longer a threat to his highness's safety?
Relationships: Ashe Duran | Ashe Ubert/Dedue Molinaro
Comments: 3
Kudos: 25





	Deadeye

Ashe felt guilty already and he hadn’t even done anything wrong…yet. Except perhaps trespassing on the private land of the Blaiddyd estate, though that was nothing compared to what he had been tasked to do next. He knew he’d never be able to forgive himself once it was done but the money he was offered in reward was too much to refuse. After all, he and his bother and sister were starving and if they died, Ashe knew he wouldn’t forgive himself for that either. This is for them he told himself as he made his way through the trees and up the hill towards the the castle, chest aching with fear and anxiety.

This wasn’t the first time he’d done something like this but it didn’t feel any less terrifying. In fact, this time was worse. This time, if he were caught, it would almost certainly result in death. Were he not blinded by hunger and his concern for his siblings, he would never have even considered agreeing to it and even now, the perhaps more sensible side of him was begging to turn back. Yet he moved closer still towards the residence of his target as recalled in his mind all the information he was given by the noble who had hired him. The noble had made it sound as if this would be an easy task but even then, before he’d realised what a fortress the Blaiddyd estate was, Ashe knew that it wouldn’t be.

It was only last week that the proposition had been made to him. The sun had been setting on another day of starvation as he hung around the market area of town, hoping for a shop owner to turn their back while packing up their unsold produce so that he might be able to swipe something for his siblings to share for dinner. He was reaching out for a potato when suddenly he felt a firm hand on his shoulder. Every muscle in his body tensed up, thinking that he’d been caught but then he heard a soft chuckle from behind him. He turned to see a middle aged man in a plain brown cloak, covering most of his body. Clothes like that would have made Ashe think that this was a fellow commoner but his face and hair were well groomed and when he spoke, it was with a posh accent that he’d only ever heard from nobility. 

“Do not fear, boy, I only wish to speak with you for a moment,” he said. 

“With…me?” Ashe asked slowly. Why would this man want to speak to him?

“Yes. You are Ashe are you not?” 

Ashe definitely didn’t know this man and so he made sure to keep his guard up. “That’s right but how do you know my name?” he asked cautiously.

“I’ll explain everything in a moment but the conversation I wish to have with you must be done away from prying ears,” the noble replied, gesturing towards a nearby alleyway. “Will you be so kind as to follow me?”

“Down a dark passage?” Ashe took a step away from the noble, getting ready to run. His parents had warned him of strangers when they were still alive but even if they hadn’t, he was smart enough to know not to follow them through dark streets at night.

“I promise I mean you no harm, boy. If you’re not interested in my proposition, I shall leave you be, but I think you’ll at least want to hear it.”

“…What sort of proposition?” 

The noble let out a frustrated sigh. He clearly thought it would have been easier to get Ashe to follow him. But instead of giving up, he produced a small bag of coins from a pocket inside his cloak and held it up.

“This is just for hearing me out, alright? I’ll give it to you as soon as we’re out of earshot from anyone else. Even if you’re not interested in my offer.”

Ashe could tell just from the jingle that the coins made in the bag that there were a lot of them. Enough perhaps to feed himself and his siblings for at least a week or so. This wouldn’t be the first time that he’d put himself in danger for money or food but he was still scared. He decided he didn’t have much choice though if he wanted to afford to eat. 

“Alright,” he agreed at last before slowly reaching into his pocket “but I’m bringing this with me.” With shaking hands, he pulled out a small knife which he’d brought from what used to be his family’s old restaurant where he still lived with his siblings. It was a kitchen knife, intended for cutting vegetables rather than inflicting bodily harm, but it was sharp enough to defend himself with should the need arise. He held it by the blade for now, making it clear to the noble that he didn’t mean to attack him with it. 

“That’s fine. As I said before, I have no intention of causing you any harm,” the noble replied.

So, probably against his better judgement, Ashe followed the noble through several streets and down a stone staircase until they stopped underneath a bridge by the river. The setting sun was causing the sky to grow darker by the minute, making it harder to see the noble’s face clearly. Ashe knew his siblings would be wondering where he was soon since it was getting so late. He could feel his hands trembling as he tried his best to fain composure and to hold on tight to the knife, ready to flip the sharp side to the noble with a flick of his wrist if he needed to do so. 

“Thank you for trusting me, boy,” the noble said, handing Ashe the bag of coins as promised. “Now, to business: you were part of the group responsible for the death of Lord Alonso, were you not?”

Ashe’s eyes widened in fear. How could he possibly have known? There were no witnesses. Of course, he wasn’t going to hand himself in. Had this been a trap all along? “What are you saying? I would never-”

Again came the noble’s low chuckle, putting Ashe even more on edge. “No need to hide it from me. I’m not going to hand you in. In fact, getting rid of people is the exact kind of work I have come to offer you.”

“What? No, I’m not- I can’t do that,” Ashe stuttered. He could hardly believe what he was hearing from this man.

“I think you can. If my informants are correct, it was your arrow that pierced Lord Alonso’s heart, correct? Not just anyone can kill a noble and get away with it.”

It took everything Ashe had within him to stop tears welling up in his eyes. The noble was right after all, he had killed Alonso and the guilt that came with that haunted him everyday. “I-I didn’t mean to!” he insisted. “None of us wanted him dead! The gang only hired me because they heard I was good at lock picking and they had me wait by the door to keep watch while they searched for things to steal. Then I saw him approach and I panicked and I…I shot him…but it was an accident, I swear!”

“Accident or not, I’m rather impressed. I think you could make a great assassin, you know. You’ve already proven yourself in archery and lock-picking and since you’re still so young- how old are you now? 16? – I imagine you’d be much stealthier that a fully grown man since you’re smaller, making it easier for you to hide.” 

Ashe wasn’t to happy about being spoken to like a child but the noble had been right about his age. “How do you know all of these things about me?” he asked.

“As I said, I have informants, spies consisting mostly of former criminals who now work for me. Among them are the gang who hired you. They were caught fairly recently raiding more noble homes and were originally sentenced to be hanged until I paid for their release and when I explained to them that I was looking for an assassin, they recommended you. They said they’d never seen anyone with such sharp reflexes and even sharper vision. After all, you saw Lord Farquaad approaching even in the dark, didn’t you?”

“Yes but I didn’t want to kill him,” Ashe sighed sadly. “It seems as though my reflexes were too sharp for my own good. Besides, I hardly think I’d make a good assassin if it meant I might hit someone who wasn’t a target.” 

“Well that would hardly matter for the job I’d like to hire you for. Essentially any death in House Blaiddyd would benefit me, although I do have someone specific in mind, of course,” the noble replied.

“You want to assassinate someone of House Blaiddyd?!” Ashe asked, eyes wide in disbelief. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? Especially after the Tragedy of Duscur, it would only cause more chaos, wouldn’t it?”

The noble’s calm expression falter for a second at the mention of Duscur. “Do not trouble yourself with the politics of all of this, boy. I assure you, I merely wish to rid Fearghus of the corruption within its royal family. Surely you’ve noticed how this kingdom has gone into decline since the regent king Rufus came to power? He does not care for his country nor his people and I feel it is my duty to make way for someone more responsible to take the throne.”

“So it’s regent king Rufus you want dead?” Ashe asked, trying his best to get his head around what the noble was talking about. As a commoner, he had little access to information about what was happening among the nobility so it was hard to keep a track of who everyone was, especially when their titles were always changing.

“At some point yes, but if you’ll accept my offer, your target will actually be his nephew, the crown prince Dimitri,” the noble replied. He took a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Ashe. 

It was an illustration of the prince. Even though it was just a drawing, Ashe could tell that he was a handsome man who didn’t look much older than himself. He couldn’t imagine even being in the presence of someone like that, let alone getting close enough to assassinate him, and even if he could, he certainly wouldn’t want to. Attempting to kill a royal would definitely result in death were he caught. “Why would you want to see the prince dead?” he asked, hoping that this conversation would soon be over. 

“Because without him, there’ll be no one else in line to take the throne once the regent king dies…which shouldn’t be too long now since he has many enemies. This will allow a friend of mine to take his place. But all of this must be done soon, before the prince is old enough to become king which is why I’m asking you now.”

There was no way Ashe could do something like this. “I…I can’t. I’m sorry,” he replied quietly. “Accidently killing a man is one thing, assassinating a noble, I’m sure, is quite another and I’m hardly capable something like that.”

The noble sighed. “That’s a shame. I was going to pay you handsomely, you know. I imagine life is hard for you given the fact that you have to resort to stealing food like I caught you doing earlier…if you were to do this job for me, I could see to it that you’d have enough money so that you’d never have to steal again.”

“I can’t…” Ashe said again, his eyes focused on the ground. “I should go. My brother and sister will be waiting for me at home.”

“Wouldn’t you like to be able to provide for them?”

“…”

And that was how Ashe ended up here, lingering nervously in a forested area at the bottom of a hill right outside of the castle itself. He spent several minutes there, hoping to spot any guards that might be patrolling the perimeter in the hopes of memorizing their patrol paths in order to time his attack correctly so that he wouldn’t get caught, but it seemed as if no such guards existed. It must have been half an hour in total that he waited just in case, but not a soul could be seen. This was certainly strange. Ashe assumed that security would have been heightened since the events of the tragedy of Duscur. 

Finally, deciding now that it might be safe to make a move, Ashe moved up the hill towards the castle walls. He could hear music coming from inside what he assumed was the ballroom and following the sound led him to a narrow vertical aperture in the wall through which both light and sound flooded out. From further away, Ashe had seen there were several of these slits all over the castle walls. He knew they were for archers to defend the castle from oncoming attackers but in this case, he realised, they could be used for quite the opposite purpose. He quickly looked left and right to make sure he was still alone and then looked through the gap.

The ballroom was brightly lit with torches on the walls and braziers in every corner. Nobles filled the room and most of them were dancing but Ashe spotted the prince standing stationary to the edge of the room with a goblet in hand. He seemed to be in no mood to dance as he stared blankly at the crowd with a solemn expression. Hitting him in his current position, alone and unmoving, would almost be too easy. Ashe felt bad for thinking such a thing but, not wanting to waste the opportunity, he quickly nocked an arrow to what used to be his father’s old hunting bow, and pulled the string taut with trembling hands. 

Just shoot him! He told himself. You might not get another chance! But he couldn’t stop himself from thinking about what would happen afterwards. There’d be chaos for sure and Ashe knew he’d have to make a run for it right away. What if he was caught? Or what if he wasn’t and the prince’s death was then blamed on someone else? Someone innocent? But what if he wasn’t able to steal enough food for his siblings? What if they starved? There was too much to balance up in Ashe’s mind and there was no time. He had to either make the shot while he could or leave now before anyone caught him trespassing.

The choice was very quickly taken from him however, as a pair of large hands suddenly snatched the bow and arrow away. Ashe jumped back with a small yelp and looked up to see a tall Duscur man staring back at him with a murderous look in his eyes. Where did he come from? He was sure that there had been no one around when he approached the castle. The man snapped the bow in two over his knee. Ashe got the feeling he might do the same to him and he certainly wasn’t going to wait around to find out. Before the Duscur man could even drop the broken bow pieces to the ground, Ashe took off at a sprint.

He didn’t dare look back but he could hear the footfalls of the Duscur man giving chase not far behind. There wasn’t a thought in Ashe’s head besides his need to escape. If he were caught, he was sure it would be the end of him. Time almost felt unreal as he sprinted back towards the forest faster than he thought his legs would be able to carry him. The cold of the night air stung against his cheeks and he could feel his muscles start to strain. Suddenly the ground was no longer beneath him as he tripped, causing him to tumble all the way back down the hill. The slope wasn’t awfully steep but it was rather uneven and once he reached the bottom, the thud of his landing was audible. He could feel bruises beginning to surface all over himself and it was all he could do not to let out a wail of pain.

There was no time to lie there though. Ashe stood up and turned around to see the Duscur man still after him about half way up the hill. He looked as though he was running out of breath by now but that didn’t make Ashe feel as though he could wait any longer to move. He took off again at full speed with the forest entrance in sight and once he was under the cover of the trees, he ran through them in the general direction of the town on the other side. It was dark in the forest but Ashe had always been good at seeing in the dark and he wove easily in and out between the trees instead of running along the path that had been cleared straight through. He hoped that this would make him harder to find but before he knew it, he was out of the forest and into the town. 

By now, he could no longer hear the Duscur man’s footsteps behind him. He didn’t stop running though until he reached the inn where the noble had arranged for a carriage to take him back to Gaspard. His entire body shook on the journey home, his mind racing with questions as to what was going to happen to him now that he’d failed. What would the noble say? Would House Blaiddyd send search parties to hunt him down? Would they be after his siblings too? Ashe had never regretted doing anything more than this in his entire life, and that regret, he knew, was going to stay with him for a very long time.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading the first chapter! Wow it's been nearly two years since I last wrote a fanfic and this is my first time writing for this fandom so please be nice ;w;. I'm planning for this to be no more than four or five chapters so it should be completed fairly soon if I can figure out what's going to happen next lol. I have quite a few ideas but anyway, I'd really love some feedback or constructive criticism since it's been so long since I've written anything on here! Thanks xxx


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